2025-11-16 17:25:07Jake sprinted deeper into the Sanctum of Threads as the hunters’ screeches echoed off the stone behind him. His heart pounded violently, his breath sharp and ragged.
Silver veins in the walls pulsed faster as he passed, reacting to his presence, guiding him, warning him, urging him onward.
He stumbled into a circular chamber lit by a pale-blue glow leaking from cracks in the ceiling. “Please tell me there’s a door,” he gasped. There wasn’t.
Instead, the circular room held a single object: A stone pedestal. On top of it, A sphere of swirling black mist. Jake backed up instantly. “Nope. No. Absolutely not. I’m not touching that.”
The shadows around the sphere flickered. And answered him. “Come, Heir.”
Jake’s skin crawled. “No thank you. Very much no thank you.”
Behind him, Lyra shouted, “Jake! MOVE!”
He turned, Lyra was fighting three hunters at once. Her blades flashed silver, slicing through the darkness like shards of moonlight.
But the hunters were relentless, their bodies twisting unnaturally as they lunged and snapped. “Jake!” she yelled again. “The Sanctum won’t protect you unless you complete the test!”
Jake’s voice cracked. “Test? What test?!”
Lyra parried a hunter’s claw. “The Sanctum recognizes your blood. It’s activating the heir’s trial. If you complete it, the Sanctum will shield you! If you fail”
A hunter slammed her into the wall. “Lyra!”
“RUN!” she screamed.
Jake turned to the pedestal again, panic swirling. “Okay, okay. I get it. I have to do the stupid magic test to survive. Fine. But how?!”
The sphere pulsed, once, twice, then whispered into his ears. “Touch us, Heir… and remember.”
Jake shook his head violently. “No. I don’t want to remember anything. My father, my mother, I can’t”
The sphere’s shadows coiled outward, wrapping around his wrist like cold smoke. Jake flinched. “Stop! Don’t”
Lyra screamed again, this time in pain. Jake saw her fall. A surge of terror shot through him. “No, Lyra!”
A hunter lunged for her throat. Instinct ripped through Jake. “GET AWAY FROM HER!”
Shadows burst from his hands, slicing across the room like black lightning. The hunter flew backward, its body smashing into the wall.
Jake stared at his hands, breath shaking. “I didn’t, I didn’t even move”
Lyra, panting, shouted, “That’s why you must complete the test! You need control!”
Jake hesitated. The shadows tugged him toward the sphere. “Remember,” they whispered again.
“No,” Jake breathed. “I don’t want to.”
Lyra’s voice cut through the chaos. “Jake! Listen to me! The test won’t show you anything you aren’t strong enough to face!”
Jake’s throat tightened. “How would you know that?!”
“Because I went through mine!”
He froze. “You, you’re Shadowborn too?” Jake whispered.
Lyra deflected another blow. “Partially. Enough to guide you. But only you can open the Sanctum fully.” Jake stared at her, bleeding, fighting, desperate.
He realized something. He wasn’t the only one afraid. Fine. He forced himself toward the pedestal. “If this kills me, I’m haunting you.”
Lyra grunted, “Get in line.”
Jake inhaled sharply and placed his hand on the sphere. A shockwave slammed through him. The chamber vanished. The hunters vanished. Lyra’s shouts faded.
The world dissolved into darkness, Then exploded with light. Jake found himself standing in a quiet street in the capital. A memory. He gasped. “This is, this is where I grew up.”
Children ran past him, laughing. Horses clattered over cobblestone. Street vendors shouted prices. Everything was exactly as he remembered.
But no one saw him. He wasn’t really here. “Jake…”
The voice was behind him. He turned. A man stood there. Tall. Dark hair. Familiar eyes. Jake’s breath caught painfully. “No… no, this isn’t real.”
The man smiled softly. “Hello, son.”
Jake’s knees nearly buckled. “Dad?”
His father stepped closer. “You’ve grown.”
Jake’s throat tightened. “This isn’t real. You’re, you’re dead.”
“Memories don’t die,” his father said. “They wait.”
Jake swallowed as tears stung his eyes. “I don’t… I don’t understand.”
“You were never meant to understand,” his father said. “Not until the shadows awakened.”
Jake shook his head. “I’m not meant for this. I’m not meant to be Shadowborn. I can’t control any of it.”
His father knelt and rested a gentle hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Jake… your bloodline doesn’t make you dangerous. Your compassion does.”
Jake blinked. “Compassion?”
“You heal people others would abandon,” his father said. “That is why they fear you. That is why they lie. That is why they hunt you.”
Jake looked down. “I… I just wanted to help.”
“And you will,” his father said. “More than you know.”
Jake closed his eyes. “Dad… did the king really kill you?”
His father’s expression darkened. “Yes.”
Jake’s breath caught. “Why?”
“For protecting you.”
Jake trembled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were a child.”
Jake’s voice cracked. “Mom… is she ?”
“Alive,” his father said. “They took her because she refused to surrender you. She believed you would survive. She believed you would awaken.”
Jake felt his heart shatter. “I didn’t even know she was alive…”
His father placed a hand over Jake’s chest. “The relics respond to your blood. That is why they fear you.”
Jake grabbed his father’s wrist. “What do they want? Why now?”
His father’s eyes softened. “Because the crown has begun reviving the Eradication Program.”
Jake frowned. “What’s that?”
“The plan to exterminate every last remnant of the Shadowborn,” his father whispered. “Including you.”
Jake felt the world tilt. “No… no, I didn’t ask for any of this. I just want to heal people.”
“You can still heal,” his father said. “But you must also survive.”
Jake swallowed. “I don’t know how.”
His father smiled gently. “Then learn. Grow. Become what they fear.”
He stepped back. “Become what I always knew you could be.”
The world around them rippled, fading. Jake reached out desperately. “Dad—wait—please”
“You are not alone,” his father said. “Lyra will guide you. Trust her.”
Jake’s breath broke. “Don’t leave!”
“I never left,” his father whispered. “I live in every shadow you touch.”
Light engulfed him. The world shattered. Jake was yanked back into the Sanctum chamber, gasping violently. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest.
The pedestal was glowing with fresh marks, Shadowborn runes swirling like ink. Lyra rushed to him, drenched in sweat and blood. “Jake! Are you”
“I saw him,” Jake whispered hoarsely. “My father. I saw him.”
Lyra froze. “You passed the test.”
Jake shook uncontrollably. “He told me… everything.”
Lyra gently helped him stand. “Good. Then we need to leave. Now.” “Why?” Jake whispered.
An inhuman howl echoed through the chamber. Lyra’s face turned pale. “Because the hunters broke through the barrier.”
Jake spun toward the entrance. The hunters crawled into the chambe, eyes glowing, jaws unhinged, claws dripping darkness. Jake stepped back.
The shadows around him surged like a storm, crackling with newfound power. Lyra whispered, “Jake… what are you doing?”
Jake’s eyes glowed silver. “I’m not running anymore.”
The hunters screamed. And the Sanctum trembled.
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CHAPTER 8 — THE MARK OF THE HEIR
Jake’s lungs burned as he tore through the drenched swamp, branches whipping his face, rain blurring his vision.His boots splashed through mud and shallow pools, slipping dangerously with every frantic step. Behind him, “STOP THAT HEALER!”“FOREMAN, DON’T RUN!”“RASK WANTS HIM ALIVE!”Jake choked out, “Lyra, tell me we’re losing them!”Lyra sprinted beside him, barely out of breath. “We’re not.”“Awesome,” Jake wheezed. “Love that for us.”The glowing sigil on his wrist throbbed like a second heartbeat, lighting the fog around him with pulses of silver. Jake tried covering it. “Lyra, can I, can I turn this off?!”“No.”“Is there a dimming switch? A sleep mode? Anything?!”“Jake, it’s a birthright seal, not a lantern!”Jake would’ve argued, but a spear flew past his ear and embedded itself in a tree with a hard thunk. Jake yelped, “AH! They’re trying to kill me!”Lyra corrected calmly, “That soldier missed you on purpose.”Jake stared. “On purpose?!”“They want you alive.”“Since when
CHAPTER 7 — HUNTED BY THE LIVING
Cold rain pounded the earth as Jake and Lyra stepped out of the Sanctum. The horns kept sounding, three long, low blasts that vibrated through the swamp like a warning from the kingdom itself.Jake stiffened. “That’s definitely Rask.”Lyra nodded grimly. “He’s releasing the whole garrison.”Jake’s stomach knotted. “But… why send armed soldiers after me? I didn’t do anything!”Lyra gave him a pointed look. Jake sighed. “Okay, I did a little something.”“You threw a commander across a room,” she reminded.“He was going to chain me!”“And then your shadows attacked.”“Again, panic! Reflex! Magic hissy fit!”Lyra didn’t even blink. “You unleashed enough force to knock a horse down.”Jake threw up his hands. “Great. I’m terrifying and unemployed.”A second horn blasted, shorter, sharper. Lyra froze. “Jake… that signal means something else.”“What?”“They found blood.”Jake’s breath hitched. “Mine?”“No,” she said quietly. “Hunter blood.”Jake’s eyes widened. “Wait, Rask thinks I killed tha
CHAPTER 6 — BIRTH OF A SHADOWHEALER
The hunters closed in, claws scraping stone, jaws gaping wide. Their bodies twitched unnaturally, like puppets controlled by something unseen.The chamber lights flickered as their shadows stretched long and thin across the floor, reaching for Jake. Lyra stepped in front of him, blades raised. “Jake, stay behind me. You aren’t ready to fight them.”Jake shook his head slowly. “I’m done hiding.”“You don’t even know how to use your power,” she hissed.“I’ll learn fast.”“Jake”Too late. The first hunter lunged. Jake’s instincts kicked in, shadows erupting from his palms like whips. Lyra shoved him aside. “Jake, NO !”The shadows snapped across the room, slicing through the air with lethal precision. The hunter froze mid-jump as the black tendrils wrapped around its throat, its chest, its limbs.Jake gasped. “I didn’t, I didn’t mean to”Lyra’s eyes widened. “Your power… it’s reacting to fear.”“I’m terrified!” Jake cried. “What did you expect?!”The shadows tightened. The hunter let ou
CHAPTER 5 — THE SANCTUM’S TEST
Jake sprinted deeper into the Sanctum of Threads as the hunters’ screeches echoed off the stone behind him. His heart pounded violently, his breath sharp and ragged.Silver veins in the walls pulsed faster as he passed, reacting to his presence, guiding him, warning him, urging him onward.He stumbled into a circular chamber lit by a pale-blue glow leaking from cracks in the ceiling. “Please tell me there’s a door,” he gasped. There wasn’t.Instead, the circular room held a single object: A stone pedestal. On top of it, A sphere of swirling black mist. Jake backed up instantly. “Nope. No. Absolutely not. I’m not touching that.”The shadows around the sphere flickered. And answered him. “Come, Heir.”Jake’s skin crawled. “No thank you. Very much no thank you.”Behind him, Lyra shouted, “Jake! MOVE!”He turned, Lyra was fighting three hunters at once. Her blades flashed silver, slicing through the darkness like shards of moonlight.But the hunters were relentless, their bodies twisting
CHAPTER 4 — HUNTERS IN THE DARK
The marsh swallowed their footsteps as Jake followed Lyra into the blackened borderland ruins. Lightning flickered above jagged stone spires jutting from the swamp like broken teeth.The air smelled like wet ash and old sorcery. Jake’s breath came fast. “Lyra, slow down. I can’t see anything.”“You don’t need to,” she said. “Just stay close.”“That’s very comforting,” Jake muttered.A distant howl echoed across the ruins, not human, not animal. Something in between. Jake froze. “What was that?”Lyra didn’t stop walking. “The hunters released scouts.”“Scouts? As in… looking for us?”“As in tracking your shadow signature.”Jake felt the shadows curl nervously around his wrists. “Can they smell it?”“Yes.”“Oh fantastic,” Jake groaned. “So I’m basically a walking scented candle for assassins.”Lyra didn’t respond. Another howl echoed, closer. Jake swallowed hard. “Lyra, what do they want with me?”“To kill you,” she said plainly.Jake stopped dead. “You say that like it’s a normal erran
CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Rain hammered the marsh like it was trying to drown the entire borderland. Mud clung to Jake’s boots as he backed away from the hooded woman, breath ragged and misting in the cold night air.He lifted his hands defensively. “Stay back.”She didn’t move.Her pale eyes glowed faintly beneath her hood, reflecting every flicker of lightning. “Jake,” she said calmly, “running won’t change what you are.”“I’m not Shadowborn,” he snapped. “I’m a healer. A normal healer.”“You saw life threads,” she replied. “You touched the shadow coils. You commanded them. That is not normal.”Jake’s heart pounded painfully. “It’s a hallucination. A breakdown. Stress. Anything else.”She tilted her head. “Then why did the shadows obey you?”“I don’t know!” Jake shouted, louder than he intended. “I don’t know what’s happening to me!”The woman stepped closer. Jake stepped back. She stopped exactly where he wanted her to. “Jake… the kingdom has been hunting your bloodline for two decades. Do you truly think w
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